Following are remarks made by Nicky Oppenheimer, Chairman of De Beers at the DTC Sightholder Reception at the National Portrait Gallery in London, UK. “A warm welcome to all, not only to this reception, but also to a new year, a new decade and what many have been calling a ‘new normal’. They say that [...]
Jay-Z Piece, Adorned with 22,500 Swarvoski Crystals, Commissioned to Celebrate Blueprint 3 Album
A commissioned piece of Jay-Z, with 22,500 Swarovksi crystals on perspex, created by artist Adrian Firth, was unveiled to coincide with the release of Jay-Z’s album, Blueprint 3, and his UK tour. London-based Gemstone Creative is the brainchild of co-founders Mark Hirschel and Sarah Sultman, who spent over a year assembling ateam of renowned mosaic [...]
Signet Jewelers Same Store Sales Up 5.6%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE and LSE: SIG), the world’s largest specialty retail jeweler, has announced its Holiday Sales and Fiscal 2010 (year ended January 30, 2010). For the 9 weeks to Jan 2 2010, Signet Jewelers same store ssales were up 5.6%, with the US division up 7.6% and the UK division down 0.8%. Terry [...]
Ex-De Beers Marketer Launches UK’s First Fine Diamond Jewelry Rental Service
Diamondthrills, led by Managing Director Jamie Mordaunt, has launched the UK’s first jewelry rental service dedicated to fine diamond jewelry, which enables women to accessorise with stunning diamond jewellery for a fraction of the cost of ownership. Mordaunt trained and worked as a Design Engineer before joining De Beers in January 1996. He spent 13 [...]
₤1 Million Reward Offered Following Graff Jewellers £40 Million Armed Robbery
A reward of ₤1 million is on offer following the 6 August armed robbery of some 43 items from Graff Jewellers, 7 New Bond Street, W1, London. Detectives have released CCTV images of two men they want to speak to in connection with the robbery, and have also released images of some of the rings, [...]
Blue Nile’s Q2 2009 Net Sales Total $69.9 Million
Online diamond and fine jewelry retailer Blue Nile, Inc.’s net sales for its second quarter ended July 5, 2009 totaled $69.9 million, a decline of 5.2% from the second quarter of 2008. This represents a significant improvement in sales trends compared to the declines of 11.4% and 23.3% for the first quarter of 2009 and fourth quarter [...]
Signet Q2 Sales Down 7.5%
Signet Jewelers Ltd’s same store sales for the 13 weeks ended August 1, 2009 fell 5.3%, while total sales were down 7.5% on a reported basis to $710.9 million (13 weeks to August 2, 2008: $768.9 million) reflecting an underlying decrease of 3.2% at constant exchange rates. For the 26 weeks ended August 1, 2009, [...]
Sri Lanka Diamond Trading House to Begin Operations By Year’s End
The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka has granted investment approval for Nakshatra Overseas (Private) Limited for a project that will expand the Sri Lankan diamond cutting industry. Mr. Dhammika Perera, Chairman / Director General signed the agreements on behalf of the BOI and formally presented the BOI Certificate of Registration to the investor. An [...]